Merkato
Injera in wheat or taff, the taff version gluten free, under a family menu of derek tbsi and ktfo on Caledonian Road.1
Why go
This is a family-owned Eritrean and Ethiopian kitchen a few minutes up from King's Cross, Caledonian Road station and Granary Square.1 The house names its own specials: derek tbsi made with fried beef, tomatoes, paprika and onion
, and ktfo.1 The vegetarian side of the card runs through alcha and fagioli.1 Everything comes with injera, which the kitchen makes with wheat or with taff, and they are specific that the taff bread is gluten free.1 There is tej, the honey wine, and a traditional coffee ceremony.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: the derek tbsi, and the alcha if the table is splitting vegetarian and not.1
- Order: the taff injera if anyone at the table avoids gluten.1
- Avoid: travelling without phoning first. See below.
What locals & experts say
- Nobody has written about the cooking. No guide, newspaper or award body names this restaurant, so everything above is the family's own account of their menu.
Good to know
- Trading status is unresolved. A listing has this room flagged temporarily closed, with its most recent reviews from December 2025. The venue's own site is live, takes online orders and publishes no closure notice. Neither is the operator telling you what is happening today, so call 020 7713 8952 before you travel.1
- Takeaway runs off the venue's own site.1
- Getting there: 196 Caledonian Road, walkable from King's Cross and from Caledonian Road station.1
Verdict
listed — A family-run Eritrean and Ethiopian room on Caledonian Road, ten minutes up from King's Cross, cooking a menu the family describe themselves: derek tbsi with fried beef, tomatoes, paprika and onion, ktfo, and a vegetarian side of the card built on alcha and fagioli. The detail worth knowing is the injera, which they make in wheat or in taff and point out that the taff version is gluten free, so a table with a coeliac at it still works. There is tej to drink and a traditional coffee ceremony to finish. What stops this going any further is that a listing has flagged the room temporarily closed while the venue's own site takes orders as normal, and nobody has phoned. Call before you go.